Unusual and dramatic dust lanes run across the center of elliptical galaxy Centaurus A. Cen A's red stars and round shape are characteristic of a giant elliptical galaxy, a galaxy type usually low in dark dust. It is also unusual compared to an average elliptical galaxy because it is a very strong source of radio emission. Evidence indicates that Cen A is likely the result of the collision of two normal galaxies. During the collision, many young stars were formed (some blue starclouds are visible near the dark dust lane), but details of the creation of Cen A's unusual dust belts are still being researched. Cen A lies only 13 million light years away, making it the closest active galaxy. Cen A, pictured above, spans 60,000 light years. Text adapted from an APOD.